Tracker Fails to Take Accountability for Damage to Brand New Vehicle

I submitted a formal technical complaint to Tracker on 26 August 2026 regarding the Tracker installation in my vehicle and to hold Tracker responsible for the damage to the vehicle's wiring and the consequential costs I have incurred.

I purchased a brand-new 2026 Toyota Land Cruiser Prado VX-R from Freeway Toyota and took delivery of the vehicle on 27 January 2026.

Tracker was installed in the vehicle at the dealership in Johannesburg prior to my taking delivery.

Shortly after delivery, I identified a fault with the rear glass hatch. Despite the vehicle being presented to Toyota on multiple occasions for diagnosis and repair, the fault remained unresolved.

The relevant history is as follows:

3 February 2026: I first reported that the rear glass hatch was not functioning correctly. 5 February 2026: I presented the vehicle to Bidvest McCarthy Toyota Pietermaritzburg for investigation. 3–5 March 2026: The vehicle was booked in for further investigation. During this process, a Tracker technician assessed the unit at McCarthy Toyota Pietermaritzburg, and informed Toyota that the unit itself was not the cause of the fault. Toyota PMB subsequently identified a component requiring replacement. 18–21 May 2026: The vehicle was again booked in. The replacement component was installed, but the fault remained unresolved. The matter was subsequently escalated to Toyota South Africa's technical team. 3–8 August 2026: The vehicle was again with Toyota for further investigation. At that stage, Toyota believed that the work being undertaken was a warranty matter. Toyota therefore provided me with a rental vehicle for the period 3–7 August 2026 while the vehicle was being investigated and worked on. Toyota advised me that the cut wiring was attributable to the Tracker installation. 7 August 2026: A Tracker technician attended the Toyota dealership to inspect the vehicle and the wiring. However, following this inspection, I was not provided with any clear or satisfactory technical explanation that rebutted Toyota's finding or established that Tracker was not responsible for the wiring damage.

I consider the circumstances to be particularly significant.

This was a brand-new vehicle when I took delivery of it. Tracker was installed before I received the vehicle, and no other party worked on, accessed or exposed the vehicle's wiring before or after delivery.

Accordingly, the only known party to have accessed and modified the vehicle's electrical wiring prior to my taking possession of the vehicle was Tracker.

The installation was also performed outside of my presence and outside of my view. I therefore had no opportunity to observe what wiring was accessed, altered, cut or connected during the installation.

Toyota has now physically inspected the vehicle and identified cut wiring, which Toyota has attributed to the Tracker installation. In the absence of evidence from Tracker demonstrating otherwise, I hold Tracker responsible for the wiring damage and for the reasonable costs arising from it.

I expect Tracker to reimburse the costs associated with the repair work and car hire on the basis that the damage to the vehicle's wiring arose from the Tracker installation.

I want to emphasise that this is not simply a complaint about the performance of the Tracker device. It concerns the manner in which the Tracker system was installed into a brand-new vehicle and the resulting damage identified by Toyota.

The vehicle has now required multiple visits to Toyota since shortly after delivery, and I have incurred additional costs as a direct consequence of the unresolved fault and the associated investigation and repair process.

I have followed up on my complaint with Tracker Customer Care on a number of occasions. The lack of adequate responses, feedback and accountability has taken me to the point of contacting the Motoring Industry Ombudsman to take this matter further.

Work order number: WI***3